Mind Your Manors: Tried and True British Household Cleaning Tips

Eschewing modern conveniences, Lethbridge (Servants: A Downstairs History of Britain from the Nineteenth Century to Modern Times) evokes early Downton Abbey in this elegant collection of entertaining tips culled from decades of the care of elegant English homes, dating from the Victorian through the Edwardian years. She tackles the obvious chores of a certain day and age with panache and charming illustrations, opening with how to stock the cupboard. Every country house featured a brushing room devoted to giving woolens a good beating. Kitchen items such as salt and vinegar were key to a clean home, as well as foodstuffs such as onions and bread. Soap—a concoction of lye and fat—became popularly available in the 1890s. It wouldn’t be England without tea, and used leaves were recycled to remove dirt from the Axminster carpets. While some information is useful today (newspapers will polish windows to a high gloss), most of Lethbridge’s book is fun trivia meant to liven up the mundanity of housework in thought rather than practice. Color illus. (May)